A New Way to Print Any Document on the Road

From missing USB ports to not having the right application, plenty of obstacles can prevent you from printing your files on the road. CloudPrint, a free beta app from Hewlett-Packard Labs, aims to solve those problems by taking printing to the Net.

To use CloudPrint (we tested version 0.71), you download and install a new printer driver. Then, when you want to print a document to the service, you select the CloudPrint print driver and enter a document title, your telephone number (which serves as a sort of account ID for retrieving documents later), your name, and any telephone number(s) you want to have the DocID sent to via SMS (you can also opt not to have a text message sent).

The system then uploads the document and assigns an ID code to it. To print a document from CloudPrint, all you need is that code, your telephone number, and a printer attached to a PC with a browser that supports the embedded Adobe Acrobat reader (which should encompass the majority of browsers you'll encounter). Or you can enter your address or zip code at the site and get a directory of available local printers (fee and free).

For more on CloudPrint, read our blog.